Swedish Police Dog Äddie the German Shepherd Retires after 12 Years with Stockholm Police

The K9 Unit at Stockholm Police posted a heartwarming tribute to 12 year old German Shepherd Äddie (Which is pronounced Eddie) earlier in the week, with the words “few have done more good for society, and his never-ending desire to work hard has helped make an often dark world somewhat brighter”.

The Facebook Posthas been received very well by the public and even struck a cord by being liked over 23000 times. (Read more below)

Christer Torlen, who was Äddie’s handler at Stockholm Police, said that he is a unique dog.

“He has worked for such a long time, yet all the time has been really energetic. He done his job for more than ten years, which is really unusual. I think the majority of police dogs don’t work for more than six, yet he done a really great job the whole time,” he said.

Over the course of his 10 year career, Äddie has been a patrol dog, a narcotics dog and a weapons search dog – His independant and resillient attitude earned a reputation and even a nickname among staff. “He got the nickname ‘Äddie No’ because he does so much through his own initiative. He’s very independent and sometimes can be a bit angry,” Torelen laughed.

“But because of that he has done so many great things. There are times when I’ve almost hindered him from doing a good job,” he said.

“We were on a narcotics job once and he jumped up onto this huge boulder then started gesturing into the air. I looked at it, saw nothing was there, and called him down. I called him down three times, he kept jumping up on his own accord,”

“Then I looked beyond it and saw there was a woodshed where the wind was blowing down from. It turned out that the drugs were inside a nook in the roof. He had done exactly the right thing, he marked the spot and was right. He’s a really great dog.”

Replacing Äddie won’t be easy, but the Stockholm police will have the help of his son, Zingo, who has just been approved as a police dog.

As for Äddie: it’s time for him to finally enjoy life as a pensioner! 🙂